High off the hog.

me: "If I took that apartment in Providence
I would be living like a king."

he: "Why, because the rent is so cheap?"

me: "That and I would have access to all sorts of stuff for my smoothies!"

he: "Oh, right...the not chewing thing."

1981 Chevy Luv diesel pickup

It was trying to tell us something.
There was a different squeal
accenting the cavalcade of
normal operating noises.
It wanted to let us know something
and the best we could
do is send it on its way
for more context.

N 42° 30.472 W 071° 16.732

Found my first geocache today
and got a little thrill
knowing there is something
hidden by where people walk
and don't know.

Weird thought today

I can literally do almost anything
I want to do today and most
likely I am going to pretty
much repeat stuff I have
done before.
That's great for somethings
like raising kids, caring for
those in need, yet can blind me to the
joy of the new.

"Smile your little smile --- take some tea with me awhile.
Brush away that black cloud from your shoulder.
Twitch your whiskers. Feel that you're really real.
Another tea-time --- another day older." - Jethro Tull

Living arrow

A metaphor and reality
borne out of relativity.
My past set as a living
future.
30 revolutions and
this bow could not
be more proud.

From the profane to the religious

Alzheimer's is a miserable god damn fucking disease
and
my Dad is doing sacred work
right here,
at this time,
in this world.

Just before I am wrong, I am right. - 99% Invisible

Day starts

Up at 6:15 with cup of coffee,
some Morning Edition (not to much)
45 minutes of moving listening to
trance.
Something just right for breakfast.
The best days in my life are
those I do something.

Really

Invited to a meeting to be told I did not have to attend a meeting.

"I remember firelight, you remember smoke." -Molly Drake

A book

Reading at one time was

the thing unto itself,

What am I doing today

you might ask? Reading I would answer.

Then I became busy and I used to squeeze reading

in around the edges. Then for a while I hardly

read at all.

Today, a cool rainy spring Sunday,

the long dark teatime of the soul,

and all day to read.

A gift returned.

City Refocuses Its Vision on Urban Farms

Frank CariniPROVIDENCE — The words hit with the force of a hoe bashed upside his head. After all the work his soil-stained hands had done to transform a derelict city lot into a bountiful urban farm, Than Wood couldn’t believe what he was reading: “… a vacant lot, which we propose to purchase and convert into a community-based garden.”

What!? During the past two growing seasons, Wood’s Front Step Farm had produced more than 2,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables, and this upcoming season two dozen neighbors had already bought weekly community-supported agriculture shares in the Backyard Farms CSA.

However, a neighbor of Wood’s urban farm recently was awarded a $10,000 community development block grant (CDBG) from the city. In its grant application, the nonprofit organization referred to 1240 Westminster St. — aka Front Step Farm — as a “vacant lot.” Organization officials wrote that their project “will catalyze community development, stimulate social interaction, beautify the neighborhood and provide nutritious food.”

Than Wood, in April 2010, preparing Front Step Farm, 1240 Westminster St. in Providence, for its first growing season. (ecoRI News file photo)Re-Focus Inc. can sure write a grant, but its observation skills are suspect. Beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and salad greens have colored the 6,000-square-foot lot for two years, a greenhouse and a handmade “mud” oven made of cinderblocks and used to cook community pizzas adorn the urban oasis, and many a neighbor has stopped to chat with Wood about what he is growing. Visitors often leave with a handful of raspberries and some good growing advice.

The nonprofit at 1228 Westminster St. can also be less than neighborly.

Only days after planting the first seedlings for his third growing season, Wood was rudely told to pack up and leave — despite the fact he was a legal tenant with rights; he was paying $100 a month in rent. It was a hostile takeover of a plot of land long ignored until an ambitious East Providence native picked up the trash, lugged out rubble, ripped up pavement, pulled weeds, planted flowers, dumped 40 yards of topsoil, grew chemical-free produce, and continued enriching the land with manure, seaweed and neighbors' food scraps.

Little work needs to be done to “catalyze community development, stimulate social interaction, beautify the neighborhood and provide nutritious food” at the “vacant lot” at 1240 Westminster St.

The former City Farm apprentice was told he could stay until the end of the season, if he paid more rent for less access to the land he nurtured back to life. Wood’s other option was to leave immediately. The nonprofit so interested in “stimulating social interaction” bullied an engaged member of the city’s West Side community off the property without even a “thank you” for the work he had done helping revitalize the neighborhood. Instead, he was told it would soon be changing the lock on the gate.

For the next week, Wood attempted to contact Re-Focus officials to ask them for at least 30 days to get off the property — a right afforded to him under state law. He needed time to move out his tools, the greenhouse, the “mud” oven and the soil he worked so hard to create.

Re-Focus officials ignored Wood and his request for mediation through the Community Mediation Center of Rhode Island, until, that is, a besieged official in the city’s planning department was moved to intervene by Front Step Farm friends, neighbors and CSA members.

Garry Bliss, director of compliance for the city’s Department of Planning and Development, took note of the outpouring of support, and in a memo dated April 19 to the chairman of the Committee on Urban Redevelopment, Renewal & Planning deemed the Re-Focus grant application ineligible.

His decision was based on three key points:

1) In its application, Re-Focus characterized the lot it would be acquiring as  “vacant” and “empty.” However, according to city ordinance, the lot at 1240 Westminster St. doesn’t meet the definition: “A lot with no existing structure that is littered with trash and obviously abandoned.”

“The lot in question has, in fact, been the location of an active and well-maintained urban farm,” Bliss wrote in the memorandum.

2) In its application, Re-Focus stated it wished to acquire the lot and “convert (it) into a community-based garden.”

“This is a misrepresentation as, stated above, the lot is already a garden serving the community, including low- to moderate-income neighborhood residents who obtain fresh produce from the farm during the growing season,” Bliss wrote.

3) The money requested in the grant was to support the acquisition of the lot and the projected date for that activity, in the application, was September 2012 — well within the time period for grant-funded activities.

“However, Re-Focus acquired this property on April 4, 2012 (for $27,000). Grant funds for the July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013 Program Year cannot pay for activities conducted prior to the beginning of the Program Year,” Bliss wrote.

And for those of you concerned about Farmer Wood, he’s currently looking at land in the city and on the outskirts. He’ll be growing food again this season and selling it to neighbors and restaurants, at farmers’ markets and through the Little City Growers Cooperative.

Hi Rick!

A good day.

Its more than a thumb in Re-Focus's eye,
although that part is pretty sweet,
its getting knocked down
and getting back up.
Its pride and conviction
shared. Its making this place
a little better for others. This smells
like an intentional community,
that's right, hippy talk!

Stone Man

My rock collection is
now watched over
by a inuksuk made of
rocks from a  Shogun fortress
and Shinto temple and they from
the even older strife
of planet formation.
A cool roommate indeed.

Been on a conference call since noon

1:39pm
2:37pm
3:07pm
3:40pm
4:05pm
5:00PM
5:08pm done!

At Front Step Farm.

The dried horse manure,
gotten free from the Providence
Police horse barn at Roger Williams Park,
was still in dry clumps after the dry winter,
waiting to be released by April showers..
Yellow blooming dino kale that had overwintered.
Barrel of seaweed tea waiting
for the tug of the moon.
Stinging nettles daring me to lightly brush
at my peril. Scallions and carrots getting
ready to do the heavy lifting,
strawberry plants making a promise
of a sweet trip across the tongue.
Mint having its way in a side bed.
A salute with a quick piss goodbye behind Al's shed.

Listening

During the day I use my hearing
to navigate and inform.
Some of what I hear brings me
pleasure, some becomes a memory
and some is immediately forgotten.
What happens to what I hear
when I am a sleep? So just like I
have a set of awake sounds is
there a whole other set of
sleep sounds stored away?

Post card from Rick and Michelle in Japan

Weird juju at work today. Better slaughter a chicken.

Critter

One of the things that scamper around through
the walls of my apartment has created a hole
in the wall of my bedroom. I haven't seen the animal yet so I am
not sure what it is. I called and reported it to the landlady
and she said she would come and take a look but
she hasn't shown up yet. However that's
not my problem because to quote the great Mitch Hedburg
"I am a renter, I ain't fixing shit!"

Adding casein in a blender.

Speed nob set to about one third
so a whirlpool is formed
start to add the casein and
at the same time slowly increase the speed
otherwise the increased viscosity
will collapse the whirlpool
sending the casein to clump on the
sides at the top of the blender.

My mind is of my body, my body is meant to be in motion.

I want to stop being self deprecating.

This weekend I was invited into the lives of loved ones to share and to bear witness in struggles that I see as the definition of what it is to be human and truly alive.

50 fucking 5 and I just wrote someone in prison for the first time in my life, go figure.

This morning I listened to a RadioLab piece on Alan Turing. A story that showed both startling human brilliance and abysmal human cruelty.

http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2012/mar/19/turing-problem/

I was counting my breaths...1...2...3 and I realized I could be just as well counting down if I knew where that number started. What surprised me was the sense of pleasure at that thought. Counting up from one mystery and counting down to another.

Gots a 2nd hand vacation buzz from dropping travelers off at the airport on their way to Japan.

I have to make sure that I have a 10 second delay on my mouth today as I am chock full of piss and vinegar.

The first day of spring and my god it is full of stars.

Cananda...crap

Bang brothers...crap.

What lions might think - If you make them run some before eating they taste a little salty.

For me change comes as I accept myself for who I am.

Lucky man sitting in the sun late winter.

Michelle with a pole saw and Rick a rake de-cluttering a little section of Flanagan pond.

If software development is similar to making sausage then yesterday was the day we were adding the pig anuses.

Dearest Samira.

Thanksgiving 2011.

Data cleanup scripts....seems just like yesterday we brought them into the world to only be releasing them in to production with the hope that they don't show up at your door in the middle of the night in the company of police.

Gods damnit

That was a busy work week.

1) People sure like to fetishistize Thanksgiving and Christmas.
2) Found I was self censoring myself on Facebook. Fuck that is what I wish I could post there.

INTO my heart on air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again. -A.E. Housman

An event horizon

Stopped behind a school bus
picking up first graders
the Chekhov radiation
pulsed out as the kids,
and I don't use this word lightly,
scampered aboard.
I wanted to get out of the
car and join the parents
to wave good bye as the bus
drove away but that
would have been just weird.

Its going to take a little time to process this weekend.

Just 2 conversation tidbits.

"I had never camped until I met my future wife. She took me camping all over New England, except of course New Hampshire where there was a warrant out for my arrest."

"Honey, my blood sugar is 409. Can you bring me my insulin."
Later
"138, perfect! Lets make some smores."

"Labor Day 2011, Sitting by Grinells Beach with myfavorite girl . Watching flag rustling in the wind ,birds flying, sailboats sailing,power boats powering,fishermen fishing,swimmer testing the water some taking the plunge under pale blue sky.Memories only one person knows"

-Pop on facebook

All night?

Late summer still has my windows open
and could hear my neighbors
talking and laughing
last night before bed
and still this morning
when I woke up.

Foggy morning time travel

Woke up and
first thought it was Friday
and had to go to work
then
thought it was Sunday
and that the weekend
was flying by
then
realized it was Saturday
and was happy.

Don't trust anyone over thirty.

"Go ahead, push the button."
Click
"Done."
Later that day
Dame Judy Dench says
"Listen
to this song."
Helen Mirren calls
from the kitchen
"Coffee
is almost ready."
Gaia whispers
"Come
walk with me."

Eudaimonia

What would it take?
An acre?
The right tools?

A hand from the other side of the planet.

Friendly and
knowledgeable
he helped get
the job done.

No explanation needed.

Nearly every time I
talk to, or spend time
with my kids, their friends and better
half's
I come away feeling
good.

Ease into the day with some
easy evaporation.

Part two.

Work guy who, in his car, uses
the go straight lane
to get ahead and then cuts
into right turn only
lane at the last second
did it again this morning
but wait
in work he ran by
me in the hallway
to get to the coffee machine
first.
I could not make that up.
Luckily there is more
than one stall in
the bathroom so he
didn't race me there.

"That dream of getting it right,
the way other people have done it,
it's the dream of correcting the past,
and it's powerful and seductive but futile."
Cary Tennis

Heavy rain,
low glowering clouds,
followed by bright blue
sky with white
cumulus.

It is hard to write anything
about divorce without
sounding
bitter or Pollyanna.
There were struggles and wonders
before
and
after.

Past beyond reach

That ship has sailed,
Horses are out
of the barn,
the train has left the
station
and time paradox
keeps my
grandmother safe.

How to end a phone call

"Have to
go,
I have a headlight
ready to
come out
of the oven."

Ornery.

Red squirrel in
grey recycle bin this morning.
I don't need to be forgiven.
Screw that.
August is here
and the heart wants what
it wants.

Gift

Shared suspension of belief,
bandied, postulated
and burnished
makes my life
so sweet.

Fuel

Coffee,
Milk,
Peanut Butter,
Plain Yogurt,
Strawberries,
Spinach,
Carrots,
Casein,
Banana,
Chick Peas,
Chicken,
Roasted Peanuts,
Mild Cheddar,
Caesar Dressing,
Sharp Cheddar,
Water.

Social convention,
to each of us,
ignore
the little
balls of sin.

What did today mean?

acceptance first,
perhaps then
wisdom.

Straight jacket
of politeness
keeps the blood
from heating
in exchange for
the soaring sweep
of joy.

27

3 cubed
and he makes us
laugh and cry.
Challenges us
and supports us.
Feeds us
and makes us
think.
Loves us
and is loved.
Young man of the world
making it a better place..

New Theory

What I say
makes me.

Sweet mooch!

Lunch made
soulfully delicious
with romaine
from a friends
garden.
Putting to work
right now building
this cog of
the universe.

Darkness at my back door crowds around the 60 watt build, keeping company with moths. When I throw the switch inside to end the glow I can hear darkness bump into the door, simple semaphore, asking me back out to look at the half moon and listen to the honda click as it cools. Just minutes later I can think of nothing to say on the phone.

Night before the last shuttle launch

In bed,
awakened by a gentle
rain,
breeze rustling the
trees
quiet and serene.
Atlantis poised
with its countdown
in motion far
to the south.

First World Problems

I have to laugh for
being aggravated when
trash guys leave a
barrel in the middle of
MY driveway, forcing
me to get out of MY
car before pulling in.
For a moment
what a jerk.

Tides out

Outside my apartment
there is the faint whiff
of low tide,
not unpleasant,
just puzzling.

Frame of Reference

If I allow my frame
to widen somethings
become insignificant
and others
expand
exponentially.

I call dogs Buddy

When I meet them
when walking.
I suspect they
name me by smell
I prefer to imagine
alpha peppermint.

Thanks dad for the gift of your grandchildren.

Really

In my lifetime
there have been
space ships.

Women are from Venus

Overheard between 2 women this morning.

W1) I painted a patch on the back and really liked the color but now that a larger portion is painted it doesn't feel like home anymore.

W2) Awwwww.

Move along

The lid of grey clouds
shrouds the heavens
as if to say
to keep your eyes
on your work,
nothing to see here.

Not a zero sum

While I like to have
serene time to be
by myself, that just sharpens
the joy of experiencing
kids, which at
this point in my life
is anyone under 30.

Spring rolls into summer and
living is easy.

Hey Pop,
think of you every time
I see this sign.

One way out

One morning
I will
wake
for the last
time.

Sebago Lake
Not to damn hard to take

Bourgeoisie

Some people like to
clean before they leave
on vacation so they can
come home to a clean place.
I have done that
one better.
Have the cleaning people
come while I am
on vacation.

All right, this is a little smug

2 instances of driver comeuppance
this morning
a green camry using the left turn
only lane to blow by me
pulled over by a cop
and
a coworker using the go straight only
lane to get ahead of me for
a right hand turn
still managed to arrive
at his desk after me.

ChaChing

I just updated my GPS
maps....
at work!

What goes on at my apartment during the day.

Came home yesterday
and in the entrance
to some animals burrow
under my domicile
is a small pink spongy
ball with stencils
of hand prints.
Mating displays are weird
in the animal world.

Day started with a bang

3 song set lit a firecracker
under my arse.

Hendrix "Voodoo Child"
Cake "Nugget"
Zeppelin "Nobody's fault but mine"

going to be air
guitaring all day.

May the full moon light your life and its tides tug you to productive pools.

Bone to pick with Dr. Who

I understand there has to be a certain
suspension of belief when
watching the show.
So the episode where parthenogenesis is
used to create Dr. Who's daughter,
and she is a hot blond chick,
who exists the machine fully
grown as a young adult,
with a full set of memories and
fully clothed is totally understandable so the story
can keep moving and the reality
of what can be shown on TV.
But the fact that she is wearing heavy
eyeliner is
to much to swallow.

4 Chimneys at the Bedford VA

Treebeard

If we spot the entwives we will let you know but you might want
to rethink making that face.

GPS

I park so close to
route 128
where I work
that if I use the GPS
from that parking lot
to get directions
somewhere
it already thinks
I am on route
128.

Skunk Cabbage

To bad it stinks because I want to eat it.

Happy Gaia Day!

Don't be ironing board

Set up permanently,
for now,
in my bedroom
where I lay my shirts
warm from the dryer
not needing ironing.

Form and Function
Thank you Industrial Designers

Water tower at the VA in Bedford

Bike path conversations

1) Jez - "My boss is going to give me 90 dollars today," Me - "Sweet"
2) Met my landlord and he asked me how I liked the new shower head (I do) and if I was still working on Maguire Rd (I'm not).
3)Shot the bull phone conversation with Randy.

Little hawk

There was
perched on a low branch
a hawk, much smaller
than a red tail,
dark gray and when
flying away a horizontal white stripe
across the end of its tail feathers
could be seen.

Walking on your right of way.

2 kinds of work commutes on 128 this morning.

1) Blue Honda shuttling with a book on CD playing.
2) Red tail hawk snatching something out of the air
right over the median.

You could almost hear the trees pop this weekend.